LIBRARY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


Gl  FT    OF 


Class 


DEDICATION 


1.C 


OF    THE 


CARNEOIE  LIBRARY 


OF 


BELOIT  COLLEGE 


VOL.  111.     NO   2 


*Beloit  College  ^Bulletin 

December  16th,  1902,  at  the  Pottofllce  in 
Wisconsin,  as  Second  Class  Matter, 
Act  of  Congress  of  July  16, 1894. 


OF  - 

UNIVERSITY 


ORDER  OF  EXERCISES 


AND 


ADDRESSES 


AT  THE 


DEDICATION 


OF  THE 


CARNEGIE  LIBRARY 


OF 


BELO1T  COLLEGE 


BKLOIT.  WISCONSIN 

JANUARY  5,  19O5 


.T>ee.o-iD   n_<DOQ  PLAN 

_oiT  OOULCGC  LIDRAQ-" 


OF 

UN/VEP 


REPORT  OF  THE  BUILDING  COMMITTEE 


BY   E.    B.    KILBOURN. 


The  report  of  the  Library  Construction  Committee  can 
be  made  very  brief  as  several  causes  have  conspired  to 
lighten  the  task  usually  falling  to  such  a  Committee. 

First  and  greatest  of  these, — no  long  and  depressing 
solicitation  of  funds.  The  generous  and  ample  gift  of  the 
donor  lifted  that  portion  of  the  burden  before  its  weight 
could  be  felt. 

Again,  the  fact  that  this  library,  being  the  sixtieth  libra- 
ry building  planned  by  your  architects,  Messrs.  Patton  & 
Miller  of  Chicago,  and  representing  in  its  completeness  of 
detail  and  equipment  the  accumulated  experience  of  the 
fifty-nine  other  libraries  which  have  preceded  it  in  their 
brains,  has  demanded  on  our  part  but  little  of  suggestion 
and  labor  since  construction  began.  Previously,  however, 
in  evolving  the  plans  for  a  building  adapted  to  our  particu- 
lar use,  I  think  the  architects  will  give  a  large  measure  of 
credit  to  President  Eaton  and  Professor  Blaisdell  who 
assisted  them  by  suggestions  gained  from  their  experience 
in  our  library  work  at  home,  and  by  travel  far  and  near, 
inspecting  other  library  buildings  and  noting  their  points 
of  excellence  and  defects. 

Another  factor  in  lightening  our  task  was  that  the  work 
of  construction  fell  to  our  old  and  tried  contractors,  Messrs. 
Schneiberg  Bros.  &  Stevens,  whose  numerous  lesser  achieve- 
ments have  for  the  decade  past  adorned  our  campus. 
Known  and  trusted  as  they  are,  we  have  had  small  occasion 
to  expend  time  and  energy  in  superintendeng  the  con- 


6 

struction.  The  beauty  of  the  completed  building  speaks 
their  praise.  It  is  their  monument  as  well  as  ours. 

One  difficult  problem,  however,  has  presented  itself; 
the  desire  and  attempt  to  build  a  $75,000  building  with 
$50,000,  combining  beauty,  dignity  and  utility  so  that 
neither  one  should  suffer.  How  well  we  have  succeeded, 
you  must  judge.  The  Committee  feel  that  a  measure  of 
success  has  crowned  their  effort  and  trust  that  the  student 
body  will  find  it  complete  and  commodious  as  their  succeed- 
ing generations  come  and  go,  enjoying  its  usefulness  and 
beauty. 

A  word  as  to  the  figures  involved  may  interest.  In  round 
figures  the  cost  has  been  as  follows : 

General  Construction,  including  Architects'  Fees,  Ma- 
sonry and  Carpentry,  Tile  Roof,  Plumbing,  Electric 
wiring  and  fixtures,  Ornamental  glass  and  decoration.  .$43,253 

Heating,  both  radiation  in  the  building  and  its  connection 

with  the  Central  Heating  Plant  by  which  it  is  heated..  2,783 

Building  complete  with  heat  and  light $46,036 

Equipment,  including  book  stacks,  delivery  counter, 
tables,  chairs,  and  shades,  all  complete  for  immediate 
use 3,961 

Grand  Total $49,987 

Ground  was  broken  in  December,  1903,  and  the  excava- 
tion largely  done  during  that  month,  but  the  extremely 
severe  and  long  winter  precluded  further  operations  until 
about  the  first  of  April,  1904.  Since  that  time  work  has 
been  carried  steadily  forward  and  today  we  rejoice  to 
turn  over  to  the  coming  student  generations  so  beautiful 
a  companion  to  the  New  Gymnasium,  our  New  Carnegie 
Library,  the  gem  of  the  campus. 


OF  THE 

(   UNIVERSITY  ) 

OF 

i£4L'FORN\A 


ADDRESS  OF  THE  LIBRARIAN, 


BY    PROFESSOR    BLAISDELL. 

Friends  and  Fellow-students:  Mr.  Kilbourn  has  stated 
to  you  certain  facts.  Those  who  come  after  me  will  doubt- 
less lead  us  to  think  of  the  deeper  interpretation  of  those 
facts.  It  is  mine  merely  to  speak  the  word  of  transition 
which  paves  the  way  from  the  fact  to  the  interpretation. 
For  this  hour  of  our  rejoicing  I  have  therefore  only  one 
message,  a  message  which  I  am  sure  has  already  been  in 
your  hearts  and  on  your  lips.  Let  me  say  over  to  you  again 
one  thing  —  that  every  great  building  gets  its  real  meaning 
and  importance  from  the  fact  that  it  is  an  expression  of 
the  human  soul. 

It  is  true  I  suppose  that  no  form  of  architecture  has 
ever  come  by  chance.  Behind  every  uplifted  Gothic  arch 
or  stately  Roman  column  there  has  been  some  race  seeking 
in  them  to  tell  its  deepest  experiences.  Out  of  the  wars 
of  the  soul  have  been  fashioned  all  the  forms  of  dwelling- 
house,  forum  and  cathedral.  And  yet  of  none  of  these 
structures  is  this  great  fact  so  true  as  it  is  of  such  a  build- 
ing as  this  which  we  dedicate  today.  For  libraries  are 
pre-eminently  Humanity's  historians.  What  befalls  them 
befalls  them  because  it  has  first  befallen  the  race.  In  the 
world's  great  libraries,  Nineveh,  Alexandria,  the  Vatican, 
and  the  libraries  of  modern  times,  is  recorded  the  growing 
horizon  and  citizenship  of  man's  intellect  and  consciousness. 

And  this  has  been  the  deeper  fact  behind  the  steady  evo- 
lution of  the  library  of  Beloit  College.  What  was  the  real 
meaning  of  that  first  accumulation  of  a  thousand  books  in 


8 

the  earliest  library  quarters  in  Middle  College,  the  room 
which  was  subsequently  divided  into  the  two  now  occupied 
by  Professor  Calland  and  Richardson?  Was  it  not  that 
the  souls  of  men  had  been  pondering  over  the  meaning  of 
the  universe  and  had  written  their  answers  in  books? 
Was  it  not  also  that  there  had  been  great  experience  passing 
in  the  soul  of  a  young  graduate  of  Yale  College?  The 
soul  of  the  new  West  was  waking  with  its  questions  and 
within  this  young  man  arose  the  command  to  gather  the 
literature  which  would  supply  the  answer. 

This  was  the  genesis  of  Beloit's  first  library  and  that 
library  was  worthy  of  its  birth.  One  who  knew  this  li- 
brary well  and  who  still  abides  with  us  (May  God  spare 
him  long  to  us, )  has  spoken  to  me  of  the  rotundity  of  that 
first  collection  of  books.  Within  it  was  a  soul  of  wide  com- 
pass, of  broad  sympathies  and  of  generous  outlook. 

But  the  time  came  when  the  library  burst  its  limitations 
of  space  and  must  have  an  ampler  abiding-place.  And 
again  this  expansion  was  possible  because  there  had  been 
a  great  soul-experience  in  the  race.  The  nation  itself  had 
been  divided  and  men  had  laid  their  lives  on  the  altar  of 
Liberty.  There  were  broken  homes  and  bruised  affections. 
The  College  and  City  had  each  given  of  its  dearest ;  and  it 
was  out  of  these  experiences  that  Memorial  Hall  was 
built.  This  touch  of  sacredness  has  sanctified  this  building 
to  us  through  all  the  years  and  especially  to  those  who 
had  shared  in  the  struggle  which  lay  behind  it.  It  became 
a  shrine  because  upon  it  was  the  touch  of  an  experience.  I 
remember  how  dear  the  building  was  to  President  Chap  in 
to  whom  with  special  clearness  it  expressed  this  meaning. 
On  one  occasion  when  he  was  referring  to  some  injury  done 
it  his  voice  failed  him  and  he  could  not  command  himself. 
Inwrought  with  the  stones  and  tiles  of  Memorial  Hall 
were  such  associations  and  affections. 

Thus  the  library  grew.  Gifts  came  from  many  sources. 
One  of  the  most  generous  and  constant  friends  is  with  us 


today  to  share  our  gladness.  At  length  there  came  the 
time  when  Professor  Emerson  transferred  his  trust  to 
another.  In  what  travail  of  soul  this  new  ministry  was 
formed.  To  many  of  us  some  of  the  most  sacred  experiences 
of  college  days  gather  about  a  wheel  chair  in  which 
was  a  racked  body.  If  ever  a  "Suffering  Servant"  was 
given  to  a  college  that  gift  was  made  to  us.  And  how 
much  was  accomplished.  In  a  new  sense  the  library  was 
brought  into  the  actual  service  of  the  College.  Yet  all 
enlarged  capacity  and  increased  usefulness  was  wrought 
out  by  a  wrestling  soul. 

And  now  again  the  soul  has  grown.  It  has  again  burst 
its  limitations  and  this  new  and  still  more  splendid  body 
is  the  result.  Let  us  be  worthy  of  it.  Accepting  the  riches 
which  it  brings  to  us  from  bygone  days  let  us  be  loyal  also 
to  its  command  for  spiritual  increase.  Let  me  call  you 
to  witness  that  this  new  building  is  in  its  very  form  a  sum- 
mons to  the  future.  All  its  volumes,  its  records  of  former 
thinking,  its  expression  of  the  man  who  has  been,  are 
gathered  at  the  rear.  But  above  and  in  front  of  these  the 
dome  rises  ample  and  high.  It  transcends  the  stack-room 
as  the  soul  of  the  future  shall  be  greater  than  the  soul 
of  the  past.  Let  it  always  be  for  us  who  shall  love  it  that 
this  temple  shall  stand  with  its  great  past  behind  it  but  with 
its  portal  forever  insistently  toward  the  dawn. 


ADDRESS 


BY   HORACE   WHITE,  LL.   D. 


When  President  Eaton  invited  me  to  take  part  in  the 
dedication  of  our  new  library  building,  he  suggested  that 
I  should  give  some  account  of  the  library  work  of  Andrew 
Carnegie,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  this  important 
addition  to  our  educational  resources.  As  no  complete 
statistics  of  that  work  had  ever  been  published,  my  journal- 
istic instinct  told  me  that  this  was  a  promising  lead,  and 
I  replied  that  I  would  try  to  do  so.  Accordingly  I  called 
on  Mr.  Carnegie  and  asked  him  if  he  would  allow  me  to 
have  access  to  the  list  of  free  libraries  which  he  had  started 
in  the  English-speaking  world.  He  replied  in  the  affirma- 
tive and  referred  me  to  his  private  secretary,  Mr.  Bertram, 
for  particulars. 

When  I  applied  to  Mr.  Bertram  that  gentleman  told  me 
I  was  asking  for  something  he  did  not  possess,  since  his 
books  of  account  had  not  yet  been  posted,  and  that  it  would 
take  a  month  to  put  them  in  proper  order.  He  was  too 
busy  with  the  new  libraries  going  out  to  take  account  of 
the  old  ones  already  gone.  I  said  that  I  would  not  en- 
croach upon  his  time  that  was  so  usefully  employed,  but 
would  compile  my  statistics  from  his  rough  notes.  He 
pulled  out  a  drawer  from  which  he  took  sundry  books  and 
papers  and  after  a  cursory  and  rather  rueful  examination 
of  them  said  that  nobody  but  himself  could  put  them  in 
intelligible  form;  but  he  went  on  to  say  that  since  it  was 
a  necessary  part  of  his  own  work,  and  a  task  that  must  be 
done  some  time,  he  might  as  well  do  it  now.  He  would 


11 

therefore  undertake  to  furnish  me,  at  the  end  of  thirty 
days,  the  statistics  I  wanted.  He  has  kept  his  promise  and 
I  am  now  able  to  present  Mr.  Carnegie's  library  work  to 
you  in  detail.  Mr.  Bertram  said  that  this  information  had 
been  often  asked  for  but  had  never  been  given  out  before. 

In  the  fall  of  1891,Cornell  University  dedicated  her 
library  building,  which  still  holds  high  rank  among  similar 
structures  in  this  country.  The  principal  address  on  the 
occasion  was  delivered  by  President  Oilman  of  Johns  Hop- 
kins University.  The  speaker  made  some  opening  remarks 
on  the  general  growth  and  progress  of  public  libraries. 
"Witness,"  he  said,  "the  noble  gifts  of  the  Astors,  of 
Bates,  Peabody,  Rush,  Lenox,  Tilden,  Newberry,  Crerar, 
Chittenden  and  many  more."  It  was  a  well-deserved  trib- 
ute that  he  paid  to  the  memory  of  these  benefactors  of  their 
kind.  All  of  the  gifts  to  which  Dr.  Gilman  referred  were 
made  in  the  latter  half,  and  most  of  them  in  the  last  quar- 
ter, of  the  nineteenth  century.  Yet  more  work  has  been 
done  in  this  country  for  free  libraries  since  the  date  of 
Dr.  Oilman's  address  thirteen  years  ago  than  had  been 
done  in  our  whole  previous  history,  and  one  man  has  done 
more  of  it  than  all  others  put  together. 

Mr.  Carnegie  has,  up  to  the  present  time,  given  or 
pledged  himself  to  give,  1,290  library  buildings  to  the 
English-speaking  people.  Of  these,  779  are  in  the  United 
States.  The  aggregate  cost  of  these  buildings  is  $39,325,- 
240,  of  which  $29,094,080,  or  practically  three-fourths  of 
the  whole,  has  been  expended  in  this  country,  about  $6,000,- 
000  in  England,  about  $2,000,000  in  Scotland  and  $1,475,- 
500  in  Canada.  The  proportion  of  the  total  population 
which  Mr.  Carnegie  has  supplied  with  library  facilities  is, 
for  the  aggregate  of  the  English  speaking  race,  a  little  more 
than  18  per  cent. ;  and  that  is  the  per  centage  for  the  Unit- 
ed States,  for  England  and  for  Canada  taken  separately. 
This  means  that  eighteen  in  each  one  hundred  persons,  in 
all  and  in  each  of  these  countries,  have  free  and  convenient 


12 

access  to  books  by  reason  of  Mr.  Carnegie's  beneficence. 
These  are  mostly  dwellers  in  towns  and  cities. 

It  is  a  condition  of  library  activity  and  usefulness  that 
there  shall  be  some  density  of  population  at  the  nucleus, 
and  it  is  a  condition  of  Mr.  Carnegie's  gifts  also  that  the 
communities  supplied  shall  expend  annually  a  sum  equal 
to  ten  per  cent,  of  the  cost  of  the  building,  for  the  main- 
tenance and  upkeep  of  the  libraries;  that  is,  for  books,  li- 
brary service  and  repairs.  In  other  words,  a  town  accept- 
ing a  $50,000  building  must  pledge  itself  to  expend  $5,000 
per  year  to  keep  the  library  going.  As  this  money  has  to 
be  raised  by  taxation,  it  becomes  a  common  interest.  Ev- 
erybody has  a  share  in  it,  everybody  feels  at  liberty  to 
use  the  library,  and  everybody  is  interested  in  its  good 
administration. 

The  statistics  which  I  shall  append  to  this  discourse  show 
the  distribution  of  the  Carnegie  libraries  by  states.  Some 
discrepancies  will  be  noticed.  Thus,  in  New  York  55  per 
cent,  of  the  population  is  so  supplied,  while  the  proportion 
in  Minnesota  is  less  than  10  per  cent.  The  difference  is  to 
be  accounted  for,  doubtless,  by  the  great  density  of  popula- 
tion in  New  York  City  where  80  Carnegie  libraries,  which 
are  branches  of  the  New  York  Public  library  and  under  its 
administration,  have  been  or  are  to  be  supplied.  I  attended 
the  formal  opening  of  one  of  these  branch  libraries  a 
few  days  ago.  It  was  in  the  East  side  of  the  city  in  the 
midst  of  a  working  population.  The  day  was  cold  and  snow 
was  falling,  but  the  new  library  was  surrounded  by  a 
large  group  of  children  and  youths  of  both  sexes  eager  to 
get  a  glimpse  of  the  interior  of  this  commodious  and  well 
provided  structure,  which  was  to  be  thrown  open  to  them 
on  the  following  day.  The  architecture  was  plain  bit, 
massive.  The  books  were  on  the  shelves  and  all  the  ap- 
pliances which  library  science  has  evolved  for  book  hand- 
ling, and  for  the  convenience  of  the  attendants  and  visitors, 
were  there.  The  facilities  for  lighting  and  heating,  for 


13 

seating  and  writing,  were  as  complete  as  in  the  building 
which  we  now  dedicate.  I  called  Dr.  Billings'  attention 
to  the  throng  outside.  "Yes,"  said  he,  "and  if  you  come 
tomorrow  you  will  see  them  inside  here,  all  holding  out 
their  hands  for  books."  It  was  an  inspiring  sight  and  I 
could  not  help  contrasting  it  with  the  scarcity  of  books  in 
my  own  boyhood  days.  The  poorest  family  in  New  York 
or  in  Beloit  has  greater  wealth  of  books  at  its  command 
than  the  richest  family  in  either  place  had  fifty  years  ago. 
No  fact  marking  the  progress  of  the  world  has  more  sig- 
nificance than  this. 

There  are  no  Carnegie  libraries  in  the  State  of  Mississip- 
pi, while  in  California,  which  has  about  the  same  number 
of  people,  there  are  35.  As  Mr.  Carnegie  does  not  discrimi- 
nate between  states  or  sections,  the  discrepancy  here  noted 
must  be  due  to  the  indifference  of  the  Mississippians  them- 
selves to  libraries,  or  (which  means  the  same  thing)  their 
unwillingness  to  be  taxed  for  the  support  of  them.  Ala- 
bama has  shared  Mr.  Carnegie  Js  bounty  to  the  extent  of 
five  libraries,  but  Arkansas  has  none.  Two  of  the  small 
states  of  the  Union,  Rhode  Island  and  Delaware,  have  no 
Carnegie  libraries,  whereas  Idaho,  which  is  still  smaller  in 
population,  has  three;  Nevada,  the  smallest  of  all,  has 
one,  and  the  District  of  Columbia  seven.  As  regards  Rhode 
Island,  I  suppose  the  explanation  is  that  she  had  a  full 
supply  of  free  libraries  before  Mr.  Carnegie  took  up  the 
work.  Most  of  the  New  England  states  were  early  in  the 
field  with  free  library  laws,  and  they  had  also  an  unusual 
proportion  of  wealthy  and  public  spirited  citizens.  Thus 
Connecticut,  although  one  of  the  foremost  states  in  the 
Union  in  the  way  of  public  libraries,  has  only  one  from  Mr. 
Carnegie. 

The  progress  of  mankind  in  the  arts  of  civilized  life 
during  our  day  and  generation  makes  a  tale  of  wonder,  and 
no  part  of  it  is  more  astonishing  than  the  production  of 
books.  The  outpour  of  the  publishing  house  is  appalling 


14 

to  anybody  who  aims  to  keep  himself  informed  of  current 
literature,  science  and  art.  In  fact  nobody  can  keep  peace 
with  the  rushing  tide.  The  utmost  he  can  do  is  to  keep  in 
touch  with  one  or  two  branches  of  knowledge,  and  to  sample 
the  rest  by  glancing  at  the  reviews  in  magazines  and  news- 
papers, which  are  often  very  misleading  guides.  As  the 
output  of  the  press  multiplies,  it  separates  into  depart- 
ments. For  example,  during  the  past  dozen  years,  a  vast 
literature  of  electricity  has  accumulated  on  book  shelves. 
I  confess  that  I  do  not  understand  the  subject.  I  do  not 
know  the  difference  between  volts,  amperes,  ohms,  and 
watts.  So  this  great  increment  in  the  world  of  books  tells 
me  nothing  except  the  effects  produced  by  electricity.  I 
used  to  think  that  I  understood  chemistry  pretty  well  and 
I  have  sought  to  follow  the  advanced  steps  of  chemical 
knowledge,  but  it  has  moved  so  rapidly  in  recent  years 
that  it  has  got  far  beyond  my  depth.  Spectrum  analysis, 
biology,  psychology,  meteorology  and  many  other  ologies, 
which  did  not  exist  in  my  college  days,  have  multiplied  on 
the  intellectual  horizon  to  such  an  extent  that  I  am 
ashamed  in  contemplating  my  own  ignorance.  I  console 
myself,  however,  with  the  thought  that  the  masters  of  these 
ologies  are  perhaps  as  prone  to  stumble  when  outside  of 
their  particular  pathways  as  I  am  when  out  of  mine. 

Although  the  output  of  the  publishing  houses  is  beyond 
the  effective  reach  and  grasp  of  any  individual,  we  must  all 
rejoice  that  the  volume  of  it  is  great  and  increasing.  Doubt- 
less much  of  it  is  worthless  and  some  of  it  pernicious,  but 
the  winnowing  mill  of  time  is  working  on  the  heap  from 
day  to  day,  separating  the  wheat  from  the  chaff.  The 
literature  that  belongs  to  the  ages,  whether  of  past  or 
present  production,  will  not  be  buried  out  of  sight  by  the 
rubbish  of  our  time,  or  of  any  time.  Some  of  the  most 
popular  authors  of  my  college  days  are  not  known  even  by 
name  to  the  undergraduates  of  the  present  day.  Fifty 
years  ago  Captain  Marryatt  and  Harrison  Ainsworth  were 


15 

in  sharp  competition  with  Dickens  and  Thackery;  the  po- 
ems of  Mrs.  Hemans  and  of  Martin  Farquhar  Tupper  were 
on  more  center  tables  than  those  of  Shelley  and  Keats ;  and 
Willis  was  accounted  the  superior  of  Poe. 

How  idle,  then,  how  wide  of  the  mark  it  is  to  say,  as 
some  persons  do,  that  the  indiscriminate  giving  of  money 
for  free  libraries  is  enfeebling  the  minds  of  the  people  by 
putting  in  their  hands  the  abounding  trash  of  the  day. 
How  are  we  to  know  what  is  trash  and  what  is  not  ?  Dante 
did  not  become  famous  till  some  centuries  after  his  death. 
John  Bunyan  was  derided  by  all  the  critics  of  his  own 
period,  and  the  poet  Cowper,  who  flourished  nearly  a 
century  later,  said  that  in  polite  society  the  "Pilgrim's 
Progress"  was  mentioned  only  with  a  sneer.  No  committee 
of  experts  or  censors  can  infallibly  distinguish  between  the 
diamonds  and  the  paste  of  literature.  Only  the  sifting 
of  the  ages  can  do  this.  Therefore,  I  say  that  any  books 
which  are  not  obviously  immoral  may  be  safely  placed 
within  reach  of  the  multitude  and  that  the  intelligence 
of  the  communities  which  support  public  libraries  by 
self  imposed  taxation  may  be  trusted  with  the  selection  of 
the  books  to  be  placed  on  their  shelves. 

This  is  only  negative  testimony  to  the  importance  of  Mr. 
Carnegie's  work.  What  shall  be  said  on  the  positive  side? 
What  may  not  be  said  of  the  present  and  future  blessings 
to  the  English-speaking  world  from  collections  of  books 
placed  within  the  easy  reach  of  nearly  20  per  cent,  of  the 
population  thereof,  who  had  no  such  resources  before?  In 
providing  these  libraries,  the  donor 's  purposes  were  to  offer 
enlightenment  and  to  stimulate  thought,  especially  among 
the  young ;  to  make  them  better  men  and  women,  and  more 
efficient  workers;  to  afford  to  people  of  all  ages  and  con- 
ditions the  solace  of  intellectual  enjoyment,  the  means  of 
employing  their  leisure  time  agreeably,  drawing  them  away 
from  liquor  saloons,  base  amusements  and  depraving  habits, 
by  offering  a  superior  attraction;  and  generally  to  lift 


16 

society  to  a  higher  mental  and  moral  plane.  "The  most 
potent  and  economical  influence,"  says  Mr.  Melvil  Dewey, 
"to  be  exerted  for  good,  on  young  and  old,  is  through 
reading.  It  is  the  longest  lever  with  which  human  hands 
have  ever  pried.  Educational  experts  say  that  the  chief 
influence  on  the  child  is  not  the  father,  mother,  teacher, 
or  school,  but  what  he  reads.  The  vast  per  centage  of 
children  are  able  to  secure  only  the  barest  elements  of 
education  before  becoming  bread  winners.  During  life  the 
rest  is  gained,  whether  of  information  or  inspiration,  from 
what  they  read. ' ' 

Surely  it  is  unnecessary  to  enlarge  on  the  beneficence 
of  free  libraries.  All  that  can  be  said  of  the  advantages 
of  civilization  over  savagery,  and  of  knowledge  over  ignor- 
ance, can  be  said  in  favor  of  them.  But  it  is  urged  by 
some  and  I  have  often  heard  it  said,  that  Mr.  Carnegie 
might  make  better  use  of  his  money  by  building  hospitals, 
infirmaries,  orphan  asylums,  homes  for  the  aged  poor  and 
similar  institutions.  I  am  not  in  Mr.  Carnegie 's  confidence. 
I  have  never  exchanged  a  word  with  him  on  this  subject, 
but  my  idea  is  this.  It  is  the  recognized  duty  of  civilized 
countries  to  provide  hospitals  for  the  sick  and  poor  and  to 
care  for  neglected  children  and  the  aged  and  infirm,  and  to 
support  them  by  public  funds.  Many  communities  fall 
short  of  their  duty  in  this  particular  and  it  is  an  open  ques- 
tion whether  private  individuals  can  do  most  good  by  sup- 
plying the  shortage  out  of  their  own  pockets  or  by  spurring 
the  public  authorities  to  a  more  liberal  expenditure,  calling 
for  a  heavier  rate  of  taxation.  There  is  something  to  be 
said  on  both  sides,  but  all  that  needs  to  be  said  here  is 
that  a  man  who  has  given  forty  million  dollars  for  public 
libraries,  and  as  much  more  for  the  increase  and  diffusion 
of  knowledge  in  other  ways,  may  claim  the  right  to  judge  the 
himself  how  he  can  be  most  useful  to  mankind.  Very  likely 
he  thinks,  too,  that  the  increase  of  knowledge  in  the  world 
leads  to  the  increase  and  better  administration  of  charity, 


*    UNIVERSITY 

OF 


17 

both  public  and  private.  Such,  in  fact,  is  the  teaching 
of  history. 

Another  criticism  has  been  advanced  by  persons  who  are 
inclined  to  look  the  gift  horse  in  the  mouth.  They  say  that 
Mr.  Carnegie  gives  only  bricks  and  mortar,  he  does  not  sup- 
ply books  or  running  expenses.  It  is  true  that  he  seeks  to 
co-operate  with  the  people  in  spreading  light,  not  to  sup- 
plant them  in  that  endeavor.  The  person  who  awakens 
dormant  minds,  who  excites  public  spirit  and  nurtures  the 
self  respect  of  the  community,  does  far  more  than  one 
who  merely  gives  cash.  As  regards  bricks  -  and  mortar, 
surely  the  first  step  toward  a  public  library  is  to  provide 
house  room  for  books  and  book-seekers.  This  is  the  starting 
point  and  sine  qua  non  of  the  whole  business.  Very  few 
of  these  1,290  libraries  would  have  been  in  existence,  or  un- 
der way,  if  the  indispensable  first  cost,  the  library  plant, 
had  not  been  offered  by  Mr.  Carnegie.  After  the  plant  is 
supplied  everything  else  grows  out  of  the  soil,  and  the 
library  becomes  an  ever  living  tree,  whose  golden  fruits  are 
for  all  generations.  Men  may  come  and  men  may  go,  gov- 
ernments may  rise  and  fall,  but  unless  the  human  intellect 
is  blotted  out  the  free  library  once  started  will  go  on 
forever. 

The  germinating  idea  of  libraries  for  all,  to  be  support- 
ed by  public  taxation,  is  not  new.  It  is  found  in  the  legis- 
lation of  New  York  as  far  back  as  1835,  when  it  was  made 
an  adjunct  of  the  public  school  system.  It  did  not  gain 
much  headway,  however,  until  the  year  1876,  when  it  had 
a  new  birth  in  the  United  States  and  took  a  fresh  start. 
It  made  notable  progress  until  1891,  as  Dr.  Oilman  told 
us  in  his  Cornell  address ;  but  the  colossal  growth  and  im- 
petus which  we  behold  today  is  for  the  most  part  due  to 
Mr.  Carnegie.  If  I  had  done  this  work  I  should  be  prouder 
that  I  kindled  the  sacred  fire  in  1048  cities  and  towns 
containing  24,000.000  of  people,  than  to  have  my  name 
carved  on  1,290  library  buildings.  The  buildings  will  go 


18 

to  decay  but  the  animating  spirit  which  resides  in  good 
books  cannot  die.  The  bricks  and  mortar  may  crumble, 
but  Mr.  Carnegie  may  feel  the  assured  confidence  of  the 
latin  poet  who  wrote : 

"Exegi  monumentum  aere  perennius." 
His  beneficent  work  is  still  going  on. 


COMPLETE  LIST  OF  CARNEGIE  LIBRARIES. 


S^o 

s.s 

« 

Oi^ 

Name  of  State 
or  Country. 

Total 
Population. 

Aggregate  of 
Population 
Served  with 
Carnegie  Li- 
braries. 

Amount  Giv 
or  Promise 
for  Erection 
Buildings. 

Number  Tow 
with  Tarnei 
Libraries. 

umber  (Jarne 
Libraries 

ill 

§5--» 

•jr, 

Alaska    63,592 

Alabama    1,828,697          50,987  $  90,000  5  5     2.8 

Arizona    122,931          16,834  64,000  3  313.3 

Arkansas    1,311,564 

California    1,485,053  584,451  1,317,500  30  35  39.7 

Colorado    539,700  222,798  433,500  11  11  41.3 

Connecticut    908,420            6,125  20,000  1  1      .6 

Delaware    184,735 

Dist.  of  Col 278,718  218,196  700,000  1  778.4 

Florida    523,542          62,015  90,000  3  3  11.9 

Georgia    2,216,331  182,343  267,500  8  9     8.2 

Idaho    161,770          10,866  40,000  3  3     6.6 

Illinois    4,821,550  419,060  1,038,250  53  53     8.7 

Indiana    2,516,462  382,685  963,000  45  4515.2 

Indian   Territory    ..392,060            8,890  25,000  2  2     2.3 

Iowa    2,231,853  350,340  938,500  51  52  16.1 

Kansas    1,470,495  141,412  265,000  12  12     9.4 

Kentucky    2,147,174  354,747  533,500  10  10  16.5 

Louisiana     1,381,625  293,784  260,000  2  5  21.3 

Maine    694,466          77,965  176,000  11  11  11.2 

Maryland    1,188,044           32,798  55,000  3  3     2.9 

Massachusetts    ...2,805,346  147,607  361,000  21  21     5.2 

Michigan    2,420,982  522,781  1,301,200  29  34  21.6 

Minnesota    1,751,394  170,614  409,000  28  28     9.7 

Mississippi    1,551,270  695,863  1,327,500  15  25  22.4 

Missouri 3,106,665 

Montana    243,329          31,487  95,000  7  7    9.5 

Nebraska    1,066,300  101,662  210,000  7  7    9.5 


19 


Name  of  State 
or  Country. 

Total 
Population. 

Aggregate  of 
Population 
Served  with 
Carnegie  Li- 
braries. 

Amount  Givm 
or  Promised 
for  Erection  of 
Buildings. 

Number  Towns 
with  Carnegie 
Libraries. 

(Number  Carnegie  1 
Libraries. 

Per  centage  of 
whole  Popula- 
tion Served. 

Nevada    42,335 

New   Hampshire..    411,588 

New  Jersey 1,883,669 

New  Mexico 195,310 

New  York  7,268,894 

North   Carolina   ..1,893,810 

North  Dakota   319,146 

Ohio    4,157,545 

Oklahoma    398,331 

Oregon    413,539 

Pennsylvania    6,302,115 

Rhode  Island 428,556 

South  Carolina    ..1,340,316 

South  Dakota   401,570 

Texas    3,048,710 

Tennessee    2,020,616 

Utah    276,749 

Vermont    343,641 

Virginia    1,854,184 

Washington    518,103 

West  Virginia   ..  ..958,800 

Wisconsin    2,069,042 

Wyoming    92,531 


United   States    ..76,058,167 

Porto  Rico 955,243 

Canada    5,579,666 

Scotland    4,472,000 

England    32,527,843 

Ireland    4,458,775 

Australia 3,598,284 

New  Zealand   874,267 

Tasmania    177,072 

West  Indies    1,350,000 


4,500 

58,000 

266,731 

5,601 

4,050,112 

59,110 

73,723 

1,256,980 

30,332 

92,716 

2,103,931 

16,795 

34,887 

285,297 

135,440 

16,313 

24,449 

138,123 

188,933 

23,626 

296,960 

25,963 


15,000 

137,000 

512,000 

20,000 

6,360,000 

100,000 

77,700 

1,713,500 

88,500 

110,000 

6,612,930 

25,000 
126,500 
483,500 
195,000 

25,000 

65,000 
180,000 
432,500 

60,000 
692,000 

92,500 


14,274,832  $29,094,080 


32,048 

1,051,213 

1,934,504 

6,243,809 

746,587 

71,390 
34,809 
25,500 


100,000 
1,475,500 
1,970,550 
5,938,610 

598,000 

91,250 
35,250 
22,000 


1  1  10.6 
9    9  14.1 

16   18  18.0 

2  2  2.9 
39  119  55.7 

4  4  3.1 
5  7.4 

63  30.2 
5  7.6 
2  22.4 

70  33.4 


2 
9 

19 
5 
1 
2 
3 
9 
2 

33 
4 

619 
1 

45 
71 

275 
30 

5 
1 
1 


2  1.2 

9  8.7 

19  9.3 

5  6.7 

1  5.9 

2  7.1 

3  7.4 
9  36.5 
2  2.5 

33  14.3 

4  28.0 

779  18.7 
1  3.4 

48  1.88 
102  43.3 
317  18.2 

86  16.8 

5  8.2 
1  19.8 
1  2.0 


Total  130,049,317  24,414,692  $39,325,240  1,048  1,290  18.7 


ADDRESS 


BY  REV.   WILLIAM  E.  BARTON,  D.  D. 

The  most  wonderful  fact  in  human  life,  save  its  sense  of 
ethical  responsibility  and  its  appreciation  of  spiritual  re- 
lationships, is  its  power  of  thought.  The  most  wonderful 
fact  in  intellectual  activity  is  the  power  of  communica- 
tion of  thought.  The  most  marvelous  of  all  human  in- 
ventions are  those  which  provide  for  the  projection  of 
thought.  The  greatest  and  most  useful  of  the  arts  is  that 
which  at  once  disseminates  and  preserves  thought.  It 
is  an  event  of  importance  to  a  community  when  a  school 
is  erected  in  which  men  are  taught  to  think,  or  a  church 
is  instituted  in  which  their  thoughts  are  guided  toward 
things  that  are  highest  and  best.  It  is  hardly  less  significant 
when  a  printing  press  is  set  up  for  the  dissemination  of 
thought.  When  a  community  already  supplied  with  school 
and  church  and  printed  books,  aye  more,  with  art  gallery 
and  gymnasium,  for  the  development  of  the  physical  and 
the  aesthetic  elements  in  life,  with  laboratories  for  the  de- 
termination of  the  qualities  of  matter,  and  observatory 
for  the  survey  of  the  stellar  spaces,  still  feels  a  lack,  and 
seeks  to  supply  it  in  the  erection  of  a  building,  there 
would  seem  to  be  little  doubt  what  kind  of  structure  would 
then  minister  most  to  the  needs  of  the  people.  Beloit  has 
been  endeavoring  to  co-ordinate  and  supplement  the  work 
of  its  existing  institutions  and  provide  for  the  intellectual 
needs  of  the  community,  and  of  the  college  which,  in  this 
particular  community,  is  so  conspicuous  and  important  a 
component  part. 


21 

Today's  celebration  crowns  the  success  of  that  endeavor. 
Friends  from  many  and  distant  places  congratulate  Beloit 
today,  the  community  and  the  college,  on  the  dedication  of 
this  new  library. 

It  is  significant  that  this  library  is  the  gift  of  a  man 
of  wealth  who  is  here  repeating  his  benefaction  to  many 
communities  throughout  our  land.  It  is  a  most  significant 
fact  in  its  relation  to  the  temper  of  our  generation  that 
many  men  are  not  content  to  keep  and  spend  upon  them- 
selves or  waste  in  harmful  luxury  the  wealth  which  is  the 
product,  not  of  their  own  genius  alone,  but  of  the  marvel- 
lous productivity  of  our  country.  Too  long  has  the  accumu- 
lation of  wealth  held  to  the  essential  theory  of  the  gentle- 
manly brigands  of  a  few  centuries  ago, — 

"That  he  shall  get  who  has  the  power, 
And  he  shall  keep   who  can." 

We  are  growing  into  a  better  consciousness  of  the  moral 
obligations  which  accompany  the  delegation  of  great  power. 
It  is  an  important  discovery,  made  by  an  increasing  num- 
ber of  rich  men,  that  their  wealth  is  not  solely  theirs,  that 
it  is  due,  not  wholly  to  their  own  sagacity  and  industry; 
that  in  the  unequal  social  conditions  in  which  the  world- 
has  been  slowly  moving  out  of  savagery,  we  have  not  yet 
arrived  at  the  time  in  which  wealth  distributes  itself  with 
absolute  righteousness  among  the  various  interests  which 
combine  for  its  production;  that  thus  far  the  battle  has 
been  to  the  strong  and  the  race  to  the  swift  more  than 
has  been  meet;  and  that  the  man  who  has  accumulated 
wealth  has  acquired  with  it  immense  obligations  to  his 
fellowmen.  Rich  men  are  discovering  these  simple  truths. 
And  so  we  have  an  increasing  number  of  them,  and  none 
too  many,  going  about  like  roaring  lions,  seeking  what  they 
may  endow.  May  their  number  increase,  and  that  also  of 
the  tribe  of  Orpheus,  who  can  charm  these  lions  into  smiling 
benevolence. 

In  the  important  achievement  of  converting  capitalists 


22 

into  altruists,  no  class  of  men  deserve  so  much  of  praise 
as  college  presidents.  I  am  disposed  to  think  that  the 
Christian  college  is  justified  if  only  as  a  means  to  this  im- 
portant end.  How  else  shall  rich  men  declare  just  divi- 
dends on  the  vast  sums  which  they  hold  in  trust,  save  by 
liberal  philanthropies?  What  shall  prevent  their  piling 
their  money  in  useless  heaps  of  metal,  or  wearing  their 
thumbs  and  conscience  to  a  callus  in  cutting  coupons  which 
they  cannot  spend? 

I  have  seen  a  letter  from  Mr.  Carnegie  to  Dr.  D.  K. 
Pearsons,  saying  that  Mr.  Carnegie  felt  much  indebted  to 
our  friend  of  the  Christian  college  for  teaching  him  the 
wise  use  of  money.  Dr.  Pearsons  taught  Mr.  Carnegie,  and 
Beloit  College  taught  Dr.  Pearsons.  Worthily  now  does  Mr. 
Carnegie  complete  the  circle,  and  bind  it  with  this  building. 
Considering  the  great  good  Beloit  has  done  these  two 
philanthropists,  well  may  the  college  stand  today  in  mod- 
est pride,  and  say,  "Gentlemen,  you  are  welcome." 

The  time  has  not  yet  been  seen  on  earth  in  which  there 
was  not  something  to  be  said  on  both  sides  of  the  question. 
Is  the  world  getting  better?  That  question  is  still  de- 
batable. The  world  is  getting  better — and  it  is  getting 
worse  in  spots.  There  are  rising  tides  of  righteousness  and 
mighty  undertows  of  sin.  There  are  forces  of  sin,  organ- 
ized, boastful,  defiant,  with  large  vested  interests,  breath- 
ings of  threatenings  and  slaughter  .  There  are  hosts  of  the 
Lord,  alert,  eager,  intrepid,  marching  under  a  banner  which 
has  gone  forward  for  nineteen  hundred  years.  We  can- 
not answer  the  question  whether  the  world  is  growing  bet- 
ter or  worse  by  noting  where  this  flag  waves  or  that  shot 
falls.  It  is  necessary  to  survey  the  whole  line,  and  to  dis- 
cover the  spirit  of  the  entire  campaign.  If  we  look  for  evi- 
dence of  the  growing  goodness  of  the  world,  we  shall  find 
it  not  alone  in  isolated  incidents  of  the  long,  hard  battle, 
but  in  the  general  advancement  of  long  battle  lines. 

These  are  among  the  facts  with  which  the  thoughtful  man 
must  reckon : 


23 

The  focus  of  scientific  research  upon  the  eradication  of 
preventable  disaster. 

The  growing  conviction  of  governments  that  it  is  a 
part  of  their  legitimate  business  to  provide  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  poor  against  extortion,  and  against  the  perils 
of  improper  housing  and  sanitation,  as  truly  as  it  is  to 
protect  the  government  itself  from  aggression  or  insur- 
rection. 

The  increasing  dissatisfaction  of  benevolent  societies  with 
the  mere  temporary  attention  to  the  ills  attending  poverty ; 
and  the  determination  to  eliminate  poverty  of  the  de- 
basing sort,  by  abolishing  the  conditions  which  produce  it. 

The  conviction  that  penal  institutions  are  somehow  to 
be  made  laboratories  for  the  construction  of  manhood,  out 
of  material  however  refractory. 

The  growth  of  arbitration  between  nations,  and  the  hope 
of  universal  peace  on  earth. 

The  determination  of  the  Church  of  Christ  to  make  the 
principles  of  Jesus  the  moral  constitution  of  the  world; 
though  now  having  for  the  first  time  in  history  measured 
the  world  and  taken  stock  of  the  difficulties  to  be  en- 
countered in  this  vast  enterprise. 

And  to  these  and  similar  evidences  of  the  progress  of 
the  world  in  righteousness,  we  cannot  fail  to  add  the  un- 
precedented feeling  of  moral  responsibility  on  the  part  of 
men  of  wealth. 

I  congratulate  these  men  of  wealth  who  have  discovered 
useful  and  permanent  investments  such  as  this  library. 
There  is  no  safer  investment  other  than  investments  in 
churches.  Happy  is  the  rich  man  who  discovers  how  to 
plant  a  block  of  stock  so  securely  and  so  profitably  as  this. 
It  is  not  exactly  an  impertinence  to  thank  him:  it  is  more 
fitting  that  he  be  congratulated.  When  a  man  gives  wisely, 
thoughtfully,  and  with  such  a  promise  of  continued  use- 
fulness, it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.  The 
friends  of  Beloit  and  the  admirers  of  the  benevolence  of 


24 

Andrew  Carnegie  felicitate  them  both,  the  college  and  the 
capitalist,  on  such  a  timely  and  sensible  gift. 

Every  village  needs  a  library,  and  every  college  must 
have  it.  In  the  old  days  in  New  England  while  yet  the 
axe  was  ringing  in  the  virgin  forest,  and  the  rifle  crack 
was  heard  in  echo  of  the  war-whoop,  consecrated  men 
began  founding  colleges  by  the  giving  of  their  books  to  es- 
tablish libraries.  The  library  was  even  then,  on  the  side 
of  material  equipment,  the  germ  and  center  of  the  col- 
lege. But  if  libraries  were  important  then,  they  are  now 
indispensible.  An  education  is  no  longer  the  acquisition  of 
such  facts  as  are  bound  between  the  covers  of  a  dozen  text- 
books. It  is  the  training  of  men  in  the  use  of  the  accumu- 
lated resources  of  the  centuries  of  thought  and  investiga- 
tion; it  is  the  development  of  the  mind  into  controlling 
relations  with  the  thought  of  past  ages  and  with  the  living 
mind  of  the  present.  It  is  the  mastery  of  that  portion  of 
the  forces  of  thought  which  is  essential  to  the  successful 
accomplishment  of  a  life  work. 

The  founding  of  a  library  is,  therefore,  a  fact  of  tre- 
mendous significance  in  the  life  of  a  college.  This  library  is 
the  fabled  cave  of  Ali  Baba:  over  yonder  in  the  class- 
room the  professors  are  to  teach  their  students  the  magic 
"Open  Sesame" — and  behold,  the  gems  of  poetry,  the 
treasure  of  wisdom,  the  pearls  of  philosophy,  the  sparkling 
diamonds  of  epigram,  the  red  rubies  of  romance,  the  sterl- 
ing coinage  of  science,  the  pure  gold  of  ethics  and  religion 
— all  are  theirs. 

Mr.  Patton,  the  architect  of  this  fine  building,  tells  me 
that  in  recent  library  construction  there  has  been  steady 
progress  away  from  the  old  methods  by  which  readers  were 
shut  out  from  books,  and  had  to  deal  with  them  through 
the  inadequate  intercession  of  librarians  and  of  catalogues. 
The  catalogues  and  the  librarian  are  guides  to  the  books, 
not  restrictions  to  limit  free  access  to  the  books.  I  count 
this  a  significant  fact.  There  is  earnest  effort,  and  it  is 


25 

increasing,  to  shorten  all  distances  between  the  seeker  af- 
ter truth,  and  the  mine  from  which  the  truth  is  to  be 
digged.  This  library  is  a  deep  shaft  sunk  into  the  very 
heart  of  a  vast  lode  extending  in  every  lateral  direction 
along  the  infinite  radii  of  truth.  Long  may  it  stand 
a  monument  to  its  donor,  and  an  inspiration  to  others,  a 
deposit  of  knowledge,  a  blessing  to  the  community,  and 
an  adjunct  to  every  department  of  the  college. 

The  establishment  of  a  public  library  is  no  assurance 
of  growth  in  righteousness  on  the  part  of  every  patron.  I 
know  a  sad  mother  who  says,  "My  daughter  was  a  virtuous 
girl  until  she  got  to  going  with  bad  companions,  and 
drawing  books  from  the  public  library."  Do  you  wonder 
at  the  combination  ?  It  is  not  wholly  unnatural.  The  girl 's 
reading  served  only  to  take  her  into  a  world  of  the  imagi- 
nation remote  from  ethical  responsibility,  a  world  to  which 
she  fled  from  duty  rather  than  one  in  which  she  sought  a 
preparation  for  duty;  and  her  reading  served  only  to 
minister  to  discontent  and  make  easier  her  speedy  undoing. 
I  am  a  firm  believer  in  the  truth  that  mere  intellectual 
training  may  become  a  dangerous  thing  apart  from  ethical 
culture  and  the  inculcation  of  righteousness. 

There  is  one  spot  on  earth  where  the  kingdom  of  God 
has  almost  come,  and  that  largely  through  its  public  li- 
brary of  one  or  two  volumes.  I  believe  they  had  a  prayer- 
book;  I  am  sure  they  had  a  Bible.  When  the  one  white 
survivor  of  the  lust  and  bloodshed  which  followed  the  mu- 
tiny on  H.  M.  S.  Bounty  began  to  realize  his  own  sin  and 
his  responsibility  for  the  moral  condition  of  his  own  and  his 
dead  companions'  half-breed  children,  then  living  on  Pit- 
cairn's  Island,  he  found  in  a  sailor's  ship-chest  a  sufficient 
literary  equipment  for  intelligence,  education,  and  virtue. 
Perhaps  you  noticed  not  long  ago  the  official  report  of  the 
British  government  of  the  present  condition  of  that  Island. 
Beginning  a  hundred  years  ago  with  the  awful  double  heri- 
tage of  sin,  a  heritage  from  heathen  mothers  and  from  God- 


26 

less,  mutinous  murderers,  diseased  and  drunken  sailors,  the 
population  of  that  island  in  four  generations  has  outgrown 
it  all.  There  are  no  heathen  there ;  there  is  no  lawlessness 
there;  there  is  no  drunkenness,  no  use  of  tobacco,  no  medi- 
cine, no  sickness,  no  profanity,  no  Sabbath-breaking,  but  a 
simple-hearted  community  dwelling  in  mutual  kindness 
and  in  the  love  of  God.  A  very  small  public  library  pro- 
duced this  change.  That  Book,  and  the  books  which  illus- 
trate and  apply  its  truths,  the  books  which  make  character, 
constitute  the  essentials  of  a  good  library.  The  rest  is 
of  value  in  proportion  as  it  furthers  this  end  of  establishing 
character.  Language,  philosophy,  science,  all  are  good,  in 
proportion  as  they  make  manhood  and  womanhood.  We 
may  speak  with  the  tongues  of  the  Greeks  and  Komans,  aye 
of  men  and  of  angels;  we  may  study  science  till  we  can 
remove  mountains;  we  may  know  all  mysteries  and  all 
knowledge,  but  if  we  have  not  character,  it  is  sounding 
brass  and  a  tinkling  cymbal. 

I  have  heard  that  when  the  Boston  Athenaeum  was  erect- 
ing its  fine  library  building  on  Beacon  street,  the  plans 
were  examined  and  approved  by  a  series  of  committees,  and 
the  contract  was  let  and  the  work  of  construction  well 
along  before  discovery  was  made  of  an  important  oversight. 
The  walls  were  up  and  the  roof  was  on,  and  it  was  noticed 
that  there  was  no  provision  for  getting  from  the  first  to  the 
second  story.  Now,  there  are  good  things  on  the  ground 
floor  of  the  Athenaeum;  but  the  treasures  of  literature 
and  art  are  above.  The  same  is  a  parable.  This  library 
will  be  a  blessing  in  proportion  as  it  produces  character; 
and  the  supreme  factor  in  the  making  of  character  is  re- 
ligion. May  the  stairway  up  to  the  best  things  be  broad 
and  the  ascent  easy;  for  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  begin- 
ning of  wisdom. 

Of  the  making  of  the  many  books  there  is  no  end.  But 
of  dedication  addresses  an  end  must  be.  And  this  one 
shall  end  with  an  expression  of  sincere  good  will  to  the  col- 


27 

lege  from  the  church  I  serve,  a  church  long  and  deeply  in- 
terested in  this  college,  the  church  which  gave  Beloit  its 
honored  president.  Long  may  the  college  stand  and  pros- 
per. Long  may  this  library  add  to  and  strengthen  the 
work  of  the  institution  of  whose  equipment  it  is  so  im- 
portant a  part.  May  it  serve  the  mind  and  the  heart ;  may 
it  promote  research  into  many  avenues  of  truth.  May  it 
minister  to  culture  of  brain  and  life.  May  it  quicken  the 
love  of  truth,  and  deepen  all  reverence  for  God  and  the 
passion  for  duty.  May  thousands  of  students  emerge  from 
its  high  portal  wiser  and  better  than  when  they  entered. 
And  may  it  stand,  a  blessing  to  them  and  through  them  to 
mankind,  for  many  generations. 


ADDRESS. 


BY   PRESIDENT    CHARLES   R.    VAN    HISE. 


Upon  this  auspicious  occasion  I  bring  to  Beloit  College 
the  greeting  and  good  will  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin. 
The  completion  of  a  library  building  marks  a  new  stage  of 
growth  for  Beloit.  Of  all  the  material  equipment  of  a 
college  of  liberal  arts  a  library  is  the  most  essential.  For 
the  humanities,  which  I  hope  may  ever  remain  a  chief  line 
of  work  in  the  college,  books  play  the  part  of  both  library 
and  laboratory  for  the  sciences  and  applied  sciences. 

With  many  I  hold  that  for  the  graduate  of  the  high 
school  or  academy  the  next  step  in  education  should  be 
a  course  in  a  college  of  liberal  arts.  Broad  studies  in  the 
humanities  and  the  pure  sciences  taken  without  reference 
to  ulterior  usefulness,  taken  only  for  the  purpose  of  gaining 
a  sympathetic  appreciation  of  the  many  aspects  of  human- 
ity, taken  with  the  purpose  of  getting  a  deeper  insight  into 
the  universe  in  which  we  live,  constitute  the  best  course 
which  has  been  devised  for  the  making  of  men.  If  this  be 
so  the  work  which  the  college  of  liberal  arts  is  doing  is  of 
the  utmost  importance.  But  it  should  be  recognized  that 
the  aptitudes  and  tastes  of  many  students  are  so  strongly 
directed  toward  technical  or  professional  work  that  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  induce  them  to  pursue  the  general 
course,  which  upon  the  average  has  been  found  to  be  the 
most  efficient.  The  "rod  of  the  Roman  schoolmaster"  was 
never  able  to  force  Darwin  to  get  anything  from  Latin. 
For  many  the  rod  of  the  mathematical  teacher,  however 
rigidly  wielded,  can  not  accomplish  much.  Therefore, 


29 

while  I  should  not  advocate  the  forcing  of  all  through  a 
college  before  beginning  technical  or  special  studies,  so  far 
as  a  youth  can  be  brought  to  this  work  and  taught  to  love  it, 
it  is  indeed  well  that  he  should  first  gain  the  broad  and 
general  view  of  man  and  nature  afforded  by  liberal  studies. 
And  some  of  those  who  cannot  at  first  be  brought  to  such 
work  may  later  broaden  their  views  as  their  horizons  widen 
and  they  see  how  partially  educated  is  the  man  who  is  con- 
tent with  professional  work  alone. 

In  framing  the  college  course,  it  should  be  remembered 
that  liberal  teaching  is  not  dependent  upon  the  subject 
alone,  but  also  upon  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  taught.  Greek 
may  be  taught  so  that  it  is  as  narrowly  technical  and 
special  as  kinematics,  and  horticulture  may  be  taught  so 
that  it  is  as  broadly  educative  as  language.  Liberal  in- 
struction depends  more  largely  upon  the  teacher  than  upon 
the  subject.  The  college  of  liberal  arts,  as  its  name  indi- 
cates, stands  for  broad  handling  of  all  the  subjects  includ- 
ed within  its  curriculum.  In  this  college  each  subject 
should  be  so  handled  as  to  show  the  relations  of  the  theme 
to  the  whole  realm  of  human  knov/ledge.  While  it  is  be- 
lieved that  more  depends  upon  the  teacher  than  upon  the 
subject,  it  is  readily  agreed  that  some  subjects  better  adapt 
themselves  to  liberal  treatment  than  others  and  such  natu- 
rally constitute  the  major  work  of  the  college. 

For  many  years  Beloit  has  been  known  as  a  college  of 
high  standards.  As  the  standards  have  risen  in  the  country 
they  have  risen  at  Beloit.  Beloit  from  the  first  has  ad- 
hered to  the  line  of  work  she  originally  undertook.  Un- 
like many  colleges  she  has  not  attempted  to  establish  pro- 
fessional schools  and  schools  of  applied  science.  By  con- 
centrating her  funds  along  the  one  line  of  strictly  collegiate 
work  she  has  succeeded  in  making  that  work  strong.  While 
Beloit  has  remained  a  college  she  early  saw  that  liberal 
education  was  not  to  be  confined  to  the  old  narrow  curric- 
ulum of  philosophy,  classics  and  mathematics.  She  gave 


30 

modern  languages  a  large  place.  She  recognized  the  im- 
portance of  the  third  great  group  of  the  humanities, — his- 
tory, political  economy,  political  science,  and  sociology. 
She  saw  that  pure  science  must  have  a  place  of  equal  rank 
with  the  humanities  in  general  education.  Thus  she  fur- 
nishes the  opportunity  for  training  both  in  the  humanities 
and  in  the  sciences,  and  hence  is  able  to  produce  liberally 
educated  men  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word. 

Often  the  man  who  knows  a  very  limited  field  thinks 
that  field  to  constitute  the  essence  of  a  liberal  education  and 
that  he  who  lacks  such  knowledge  is  not  liberally  educated. 
The  field  may  be  science  alone,  language  and  literature 
alone,  or  philosophy  and  mathematics.  I  do  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  one  who  knows  only  the  humanities,  that  is,  one 
who  confines  his  studies  to  man  and  who  ignores  all  of  the 
remainder  of  the  universe,  is  not  liberally  educated,  nor 
do  I  hesitate  to  say  that  one  who  knows  only  science,  or  some 
part  of  it,  and  who  ignores  philosophy,  language,  literature, 
and  history,  is  not  liberally  educated.  The  liberally  edu- 
cated man  should  know  enough  of  language  to  appreciate 
the  literature  of  more  than  one  tongue;  he  should  know 
enough  of  history,  political  economy,  and  sociology,  to 
understand  the  governmental  and  social  problems  of  the 
race;  he  should  know  enough  of  science  to  appreciate  the 
marvelous  order  of  nature ;  he  should  know  enough  of  phil- 
osophy to  be  interested  in  the  meaning  of  the  universe  and 
the  destiny  of  humanity.  Any  man  who  lacks  altogether 
one  of  these  four  elements  has  not  an  ideal  liberal  educa- 
tion. He  who  has  this  broad  foundation  may  wisely  become 
a  specialist  in  some  line  of  pure  knowledge,  or  he  may  be- 
come interested  in  the  application  of  knowledge  to  the  con- 
crete problems  of  life  such  as  are  handled  in  the  profession- 
al schools  and  schools  of  applied  science. 

From  what  has  gone  before  it  is  clear  that  a  man  is  lib- 
erally educated  who  has  studied  a  broad  range  of  sub- 
jects in  a  liberal  manner.  The  production  of  such  men  is 


31 

the  opportunity  of  the  college.  The  new  library  building 
here  rounds  out  the  material  equipment  of  Beloit  for  this 
work;  hence  it  is  that  she  is  to  be  so  profoundly  congratu- 
lated upon  its  completion.  The  University  of  Wisconsin 
shares  with  her  the  joy  of  this  occasion  for  it  means  that 
the  educational  work  of  the  state  is  to  be  better  done.  It 
means  that  more  liberally  educated  men  are  to  be  produced. 
Beloit,  the  other  colleges  of  the  state,  and  the  College  of 
Letters  and  Science  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  are 
engaged  in  a  common  work.  The  amount  of  collegiate  work 
which  in  the  years  to  come  will  be  demanded  by  the  youth 
of  the  state  will  tax  to  the  utmost  the  capacity  of  all  its 
educational  institutions.  That  which  increases  the  efficien- 
cy of  one  is  a  source  of  joy  to  all.  Again  the  University 
of  Wisconsin  congratulates  Beloit  and  congratulates  the 
state  upon  the  occupancy  of  the  Carnegie  library  which  this 
day  has  been  dedicated  to  the  production  of  liberally  edu- 
cated men  and  women. 


THE  LIBRARY  AS  A  FACTOR  IN  EDUCATION. 


BY  SECRETARY  REUBEN  GOLD  THWAITES. 


The  progress  of  a  race  is  largely  dependent  upon  an  ac- 
cumulation of  physical  and  mental  experience.  Under 
ideal  conditions,  each  generation  stands  on  the  shoulders 
of  its  predecessors.  But  conditions  are  not  always  ideal. 
Men  of  every  age  and  race  have,  like  children,  often  shown 
themselves  unwilling  to  accept  the  experience  of  their  eld- 
ers as  a  basis  of  action,  being  insistent  on  undergoing  the 
ordeal  of  their  own  personal  experience.  Indeed,  certain 
kinds  of  experimental  knowledge  have  never  been  taken 
for  granted;  we  cannot  or  will  not  learn  merely  from  the 
statement  of  those  who  have  preceded  us.  The  student  of 
history  is  continually  confronted  by  the  fact  that  different 
generations  of  men  are,  each  in  their  turn,  stumbling  over 
problems  —  political,  economic,  social  —  which  have  been 
solved  over  and  over  again.  But  as  a  whole,  the  race  does 
profit  in  large  measure  by  the  great  accumulated  stores 
of  human  experience,  and  thereby  spasmodically  reaches 
successive  plateaus  of  achievement.  If  such  were  not  the 
case,  all  mankind  would  still  be  in  the  savage  state. 

How  has  experimental  knowledge  and  thought  been 
transmitted  from  one  generation  to  another?  In  the  most 
primitive  stages,  the  young  have  early  been  admitted  by 
their  elders  to  the  store  of  tribal  experience  —  how  best  to 
fish,  to  hunt,  to  cook,  to  secure  protection  from  the  elements, 
to  confound  their  enemies,  to  defend  themselves  from  at- 
tacks of  foes  and  beasts  of  prey,  to  cure  or  mitigate  their 
ailments,  and  to  propitiate  the  manifold  demons  of  air 


OF  THE 

•IVERSITY 

OF 


33 

and  earth  and  water,  which  hover  about  them  eager  to 
destroy. 

Such  was  the  method  of  direct  instruction,  for  the  press- 
ing needs  of  self  preservation.  In  the  next  higher  step, 
the  race  became  self  conscious — pride  of  ancestry  is  a  potent 
factor  in  intellectual  development.  We  find  generations 
bequeathing  to  their  successors  certain  memorials  of  brave 
men,  gallant  deeds,  significant  episodes — in  the  form  of 
oral  traditions,  handed  down  from  father  to  son,  supple- 
mented by  such  rude  but  lasting  records  of  impressions 
and  experiences  as  carved  bones,  rock  markings,  and  those 
Indian  mounds  which  are  so  familiar  to  us  of  Wisconsin 
as  to  be  commonplace,  their  historical  significance  as 
mausoleums  as  well  as  armorial  monuments  being  lost 
upon  the  multitude.  Still  further  on,  we  have  symbolic 
ornamentation  upon  utensils,  tools,  dress,  huts  and 
wigwams,  as  in  the  case  of  the  North  American  savage; 
and,  higher  up  in  the  scale,  the  monumental  records  of 
architecture,  symbolic  sculpture,  and  mural  decoration, 
such  as  are  seen  in  Eygpt,  Peru,  and  Mexico. 

Then,  with  a  mighty  stride  forward,  the  twilight  paths 
of  civilization  were  reached,  and  men  had  acquired 
the  art  of  writing — in  hieroglyphics,  as  on  the  walls  and 
monoliths  of  Eygpt,  Assyria,  and  among  the  Aztecs;  in 
impressions  upon  tablets  of  brick,  as  in  the  recently  un- 
earthed libraries  of  Babylon  and  Nippur;  and  later,  upon 
still  more  portable  and  lasting  vehicles  of  expression,  the 
clerkly  papyrus  and  parchment,  such  as  were  made  and 
used  in  the  library  at  Alexandria  and  the  monastic  collec- 
tions of  mediaeval  Europe. 

Until  the  invention  of  the  modern  art  of  printing  from 
blocks  of  wood  or  metal,  none  but  the  great  and  wealthy 
could  own  books  wherein  were  recorded  the  choice  thoughts 
and  valuable  experiences  of  men  who  had  gone  before,  of 
those  who  had  stood  a  head  higher  than  the  common 
throng.  The  records  of  the  past  had  heretofore  laborious- 


34 

ly  to  be  copied  by  scribes,  who  sometimes  spent  the  best 
years  of  a  lifetime  upon  a  single  volume ;  now,  they  could 
be  reproduced  in  almost  endless  number,  and  thus  be  made 
available  to  the  most  distant  races  of  mankind.  Now  for 
the  first  time  might  at  least  the  prosperous  middle  class 
of  scholars  and  merchants  walk  with  their  elder  brothers 
who  had  gone  before — with  Tacitus,  Herodotus,  Josephus, 
Homer,  Caesar,  all  the  philosophers,  and  poets,  and  wits, 
and  historians  of  classic  times;  for  the  first  time  own  and 
read  the  sacred  Gospels  of  the  Christian  faith. 

But  although  a  prodigious  advance  had  been  made  in 
the  popularizing  of  experimental  knowledge,  printed  books 
were  at  first  quite  expensive.  The  methods  were  labor- 
ious: types  and  ink  and  paper  were  costly,  being  hand- 
made; press- work  was  of  the  painstaking  sort,  with  one 
pull  on  the  hand-lever  for  each  impression,  and  nothing 
short  of  perfection  allowed  to  emerge  from  the  shop  —  the 
result  being  those  splendid  examples  of  artistic  mediaeval 
typography  which  we  vainly  strive  to  imitate  in  the  cost- 
liest de  luxe  editions  of  our  own  day. 

There  were  as  yet  no  public  libraries;  there  were  collec- 
tions at  courts,  and  in  monasteries  and  colleges,  often 
chained  to  the  shelves  —  an  arrangement  which  the  modern 
librarian  sometimes  covertly  envies,  when,  his  missionary 
zeal  lagging  for  a  moment,  he  contemplates  his  annual 
record  of  books  misplaced  or  stolen.  Even  in  the  village 
sanctuary,  the  Word  of  God  was  stoutly  fastened  to  its 
oaken  desk,  a  reminder  of  the  past  that  still  survives  in 
such  churches  as  that  at  Old  Chelsea;  while  several  exam- 
ples of  chained  monastic  and  college  libraries  are  preserved 
to  us  in  England  and  on  the  European  Continent.  Thus 
we  see  that  the  popular  use  of  books  spread  but  slowly 
in  the  first  years  of  the  ''art  preservative  of  arts." 

With  the  slow  march  of  improvement  in  printing 
machinery,  there  was  a  steady  cheapening  of  the  cost  of 
production;  although,  unfortunately,  it  was  gained  at  the 


35 

expense  of  excellence.  The  price  of  books  steadily  fell, 
and  with  this  fall  came  an  ever  increasing  circle  of  buyers. 
Great  public  collections  of  books  now  began  to  appear  in 
most  of  the  large  communities  —  monster  libraries  in  which 
could  be  consulted  or  from  which  might  be  borrowed  the 
literature  of  all  the  ages  of  civilization  which  had  passed; 
the  literature  of  the  ages  being  but  another  name  for  the 
experience  of  the  ages,  the  records  of  their  thoughts  and 
deeds,  more  or  less  attractively  set  forth  for  the  entertain- 
ment and  instruction  of  posterity. 

At  first,  the  public  library  was  merely  a  collection  of 
books  to  the  use  of  which  any  qualified  person  might  sub- 
scribe —  the  library  of  an  open  association,  like  the  Young 
Men's  or  Mechanics'  associations  which  in  the  memory  of 
most  of  us  here  present  prevailed  so  generally  in  our  own 
country  a  half  century,  or  even  less,  ago ;  of  a  corporation 
of  scholars,  such  as  an  institute,  an  academy,  or  a  college, 
the  most  famous  example  of  which  is  the  Bodleian  of 
Oxford. 

Not  until  a  half  century  ago  —  but  yesterday,  in  the 
story  of  a  race  —  did  the  now  obvious  idea  take  root  that 
the  library,  wherein  was  preserved  records  of  the  experi- 
ences of  preceding  generations  of  mankind,  should  be  open 
to  every  citizen,  and  should  be  supported  by  public  taxa- 
tion; just  exactly  as  the  public  school  is  supported  —  for 
what  is  the  school,  if  it  be  not  a  means  of  conveying  to 
youth  the  experiences  of  the  ages,  through  the  joint  media 
of  oral  traditions  and  of  books?  A  time-honored  method, 
surely;  for  have  we  not  seen  barbaric  man  supplementing 
the  oral  traditions  of  the  tribe  with  monumental  records  of 
the  cruder  sort  than  printed  books,  but  hardly  less  elo- 
quent. 

The  school  and  the  library  have  sprung  from  the  same 
parent — their  joint  historical  origin  being  the  attempt  of 
the  first  man  to  convey  to  his  child  the  fruit  of  observa- 
tions along  the  rugged  path  of  life.  The  school  —  as  was 


36 

natural,  for  its  office  is,  or  rather  was,  largely  oral  —  was 
first  to  gain  popular  recognition  as  a  necessary  depart- 
ment of  government.  In  our  own  happy  day,  the  library, 
from  being  the  possession  of  a  favored  few,  has  at  last 
become  generally  accepted  as  a  proper  and  essential  tool 
in  the  educational  uplift  of  the  race.  In  modern  life,  the 
schoolhouse  in  each  civilized  community  is  but  one  phase 
of  the  ever-pressing,  ever-needful  task  of  teaching  by  ex- 
perience; the  library  building  is  another.  And  is  it  not 
recognized  at  last,  that  the  librarian  and  the  schoolmaster 
are  equal  factors  in  one  and  the  same  work  ?  —  the  librarian 
being  the  custodian  of  the  records,  the  schoolmaster  their 
expounder ;  although  not  seldom,  in  practice,  their  respect- 
ive duties  so  overlap  one  the  other,  that  the  line  of  de- 
marcation is  not  easily  defined. 

We  are  assembled  here  to-day  formally  to  emphasize 
what  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  important  events  in  the 
life  of  this  honored  seat  of  learning  —  the  opening  of  a 
new  library  building,  far  better  adapted  in  space  and  in 
technical  equipment  than  was  its  predecessor,  for  the  work 
which  it  is  doing  and  is  to  do.  The  event  is  indicative  of 
the  fact  that,  everywhere  in  our  college  world,  the  library 
is  coming  to  its  own.  A  few  months  ago,  a  philanthropist 
asked  a  certain  university  president  of  my  acquaintance, 
wherein  he  might  best  expend  three-quarters  of  a  million 
dollars  which  it  was  his  purpose  to  present  to  the  institu- 
tion. The  answer  came,  quick  as  thought,  that  the  erection 
of  a  library  building  was  by  all  means  the  greatest  and 
most  immediate  service  that  he  could  render;  and  plans 
are  now  under  way  for  a  structure  which  shall  worthily 
house  that  university's  records  of  the  past. 

The  library  is  to-day  generally  recognized  by  thoughtful 
men  as  the  storehouse  of  accumulated  knowledge,  the  labo- 
ratory of  the  humanities,  the  nerve-centre  of  the  college. 
Such  was  the  thought  which  induced  President  Low  to 
place  hi*  magnificent  library  in  the  centre  of  the  fine 


31 

group  of  buildings  which  house  Columbia  University — 
the  largest  and  most  artistic  of  them  all.  Princeton  and 
Cornell,  in  constructing  their  new  library  buildings,  ex- 
hibited the  same  wise  appreciation;  Yale  is  gradually 
evolving  a  structure  which  shall  eventually  take  rank  over 
all  its  architectural  colleagues;  and  Harvard  is  but  await- 
ing a  generous  giver,  before  making  her  library  the  domin- 
ant feature  of  her  campus.  Such  is  the  note  heard  upon 
every  hand  in  our  own  country;  while  abroad,  one  often 
finds  the  library  building  the  central  factor  at  seats  of 
learning.  The  college  library  must  be  centrally  located, 
in  order  that  it  may  be  convenient  to  every  department; 
it  must  be  lacking  in  no  mechanical  device  which  may 
facilitate  the  use  of  its  treasures;  while  its  commanding 
importance  in  the  work  of  education,  and  its  dignity  as  the 
repository  of  the  records  of  human  experience  and  achieve- 
ment, alike  demand  that  its  architecture  be  artistic  and  if 
possible  impressive. 

We  have  seen  that  the  college  library  is  both  a  store- 
house of  experimental  knowledge,  so  far  as  it  is  recorded 
in  books  and  manuscripts,  and  a  laboratory  for  such  forms 
of  present-day  instruction  as  need  these  tools  closely  at 
hand  —  and  there  has  of  late  been  a  rapid  increase  in  the 
uses  which  instructors  are  making  of  the  library,  with 
every  indication  that  the  demands  upon  that  department 
are  as  yet  in  their  infancy.  This  leads  us  to  the  familiar 
inquiry  as  to  how  far  the  college  may  safely  go,  in  the 
scope  of  its  collection.  The  records  of  knowledge  have, 
especially  within  the  past  century,  become  so  various  in 
character  and  so  vast  in  extent,  that  no  library 
in  existence  contains  a  tithe  or  even  a  hundredth  of  them 
all.  Such  colossal  stores  as  those  at  Berlin,  Paris,  London, 
and  St.  Petersburg,  for  instance,  are  weak  in  many  im- 
portant lines  of  collection.  In  the  now  rich  department 
of  Americana,  for  example,  the  British  Museum  is  the  only 
European  library  where  can  be  found  anything  more  than 


38 

a  scattering  and  unrepresentative  collection  —  but  the 
Museum  remains  the  one  resource  for  American  scholars 
who  are  studying  some  of  the  phases  of  our  own  history. 
In  the  United  States,  no  one  library  —  not  even  the  Nation- 
al, at  Washington  —  may  be  regarded  as  sufficiently  rich  to 
satisfy  scholars,  save  in  a  limited  range  of  subjects.  The 
specialist  in  almost  any  department  of  human  study  finds 
it  essential  to  visit  many  libraries,  if  he  would  exhaust  the 
possibilities  of  his  subject,  and  he  may  even  feel  obliged  to 
supplement  his  investigations  by  a  tour  to  the  European 
collections. 

This  condition  of  affairs  is  in  no  sense  a  criticism  of 
library  administration  or  policy.  It  is  simply  inevitable, 
in  view  either  of  the  immense  stores  of  books  which  exist 
on  many  topics,  or  the  extreme  rarity  or  the  enormous 
cost  of  others.  All  of  which  proves  that  no  librarian, 
however  well  supported  by  plethoric  funds,  can  hope  to 
exhaust  any  one  field  of  importance.  The  investigating 
scholar  in  all  unusual  and  intricate  lines  of  investigation 
will,  probably  until  the  end  of  time,  be  obliged  now  and  then 
to  travel ;  save  that  the  growing  system  of  loaning  books 
from  one  library  to  another,  for  the  benefit  of  read- 
ers, will  enable  him  more  and  more  to  broaden  his  field  of 
inquiry  without  stirring  from  his  favorite  alcove. 

It  being  clear,  then,  that  no  library  can  aspire  to  the 
possession  of  all  the  books,  it  is  only  in  a  few  centres  of 
research,  where  favoring  conditions  exist,  that  very  large 
collections  of  unusual  material  need  be  stored.  For  each 
European  country,  one  or  two  such  centres  of  collection  are 
probably  sufficient.  But  in  so  vast  a  land  as  our  own, 
whose  cities  are  few  and  far  between,  and  where  great 
expenditures  of  time  and  money  are  essential  for  the  most 
ordinary  journeys,  it  is  desirable  that  this  number  be 
greatly  increased  —  possibly  on  the  average  of  every  three 
hundred  miles  or  so,  between  the  oceans.  Of  course  no 
such  merely  artificial  distribution  is  practicable;  but  in 


39 

general  terms,  we  are  fast  approaching  what  is  essentially 
that  condition.  When  we  contemplate  the  very  consider- 
able number  of  important  reference  libraries  upon  the 
Atlantic  coast  —  at  Boston,  Cambridge,  Worcester,  Provi- 
dence, New  Haven,  New  York,  Ithaca,  Albany,  Buffalo, 
Philadelphia,  Harrisburg,  and  Washington  —  and  watch  the 
rapid  growth  of  the  large  university,  state,  and  public 
libraries  at  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  Detroit,  Chi- 
cago, Milwaukee,  Madison,  Minneapolis,  St.  Louis,  and  at 
three  or  four  points  upon  the  Pacific  tidewater,  there  is 
every  reason  for  optimism.  The  special  investigator  at 
Beloit,  who  finds  this  excellent  general  collection  a 
pent-up  Utica,  is  fortunate  indeed,  in  being  closely  in 
touch  with  two  of  the  most  important  centres  of  book 
collection  in  America  —  Chicago,  with  its  several  differen- 
tiated and  practically  co-operating  libraries,  and  Madison, 
where  two  state-supported  libraries  (that  of  the  State  His- 
torical Society  and  that  of  the  State  University,  to  name 
them  in  the  order  of  their  size),  have  been  so  admirably 
housed  through  the  exercise  of  a  true  legislative  wisdom. 

Situated,  then,  as  Beloit  is,  she  is  happily  enabled  to 
centre  her  funds  upon  a  general,  standard  collection,  which 
is,  or  should  be,  the  norm  of  every  college  library.  Hav- 
ing, I  believe,  no  aspirations  to  pose  as  a  university,  and 
* 'hoi  ding  fast  to  that  which  is  good"  in  the  direction  of 
a  conservative  classical  education,  her  library  funds  need 
not  be  expended  upon  the  unusual  or  the  severely  technic- 
al branches.  She  needs  few  public  documents,  a  depart- 
ment which  grows  like  the  green  bay  tree,  and  whose  in- 
tricate problems  of  collection  and  handling  puzzle  and 
distract  even  the  most  optimistic  bibliophile;  no  curiously 
involved  "sets"  of  the  learned  societies  need  arise  as  night- 
mares to  disturb  the  slumbers  of  her  library  committee; 
costly  mediaeval  collections,  overflowing  alcoves  of  con- 
tinental "sources,"  the  singular  perversions  of  British 
patents  and  parliamentary  reports,  the  ever-expanding  out- 


40 

put  of  expensive  genealogies,  the  problems  of  the  map 
and  manuscript  departments,  and  the  unwieldly  octopus 
of  general  newspaper  files  (the  local  files  should  of  course 
be  kept) ,  none  of  these  come  to  drive  her  librarian  mad. 

The  college  library  may  safely  avoid  specializing,  leav- 
ing that  to  its  more  strenuous  and  probably  better-sup- 
ported sisters  at  neighboring  centres  of  research.  In 
building  up  a  collection  of  the  essentials  of  a  well-rounded 
laboratory  of  the  humanities,  it  will  find  abundant  use  for 
its  funds  and  best  serve  its  constituency  of  teachers  and 
students. 

We  are  dedicating,  to-day,  a  building  erected  through 
the  munificence  of  one  who  perhaps  more  thoroughly  than 
any  other  man  of  his  time,  realizes  the  historical  origin  of 
the  library,  and  its  immense  importance  as  a  factor  in  our 
modern  life.  The  dream  of  Andrew  Carnegie  is,  that, 
having  the  tax-supported  school,  each  community  shall 
have  a  tax-supported  library  as  its  supplement  and  con- 
fluent —  he  furnishing  the  plant,  if  the  public  will  liber- 
ally operate  it.  The  Carnegie  library  is  generally  a 
gift  to  the  town;  seldom  indeed  has  he  opened  his  purse- 
strings  to  a  college,  as  here  at  Beloit.  Possibly  it  would 
have  been  better,  had  he  been  more  generous  to  the  col- 
leges, where  libraries  exercise  such  direct  and  potent  in- 
fluence over  the  scholars  from  whose  ranks  come  those 
who  shape  popular  education.  But  we  are  admonished 
not  to  examine  too  closely  the  teeth  of  the  gift-horse  —  we 
must  take  our  Carnegie  libraries  as  they  come,  or  not  at 
all.  There  are  those  who  think  that  we  suffer  somewhat, 
in  accepting  gifts  from  so  wholesale  and,  it  is  to  be  feared, 
so  indiscriminating  a  source ;  that  it  were  far  better  for  a  lo- 
cal philanthropist  to  present  the  library  to  the  town,  or  a 
philanthropic  alumnus  to  give  it  to  the  college  —  perhaps 
better  for  us,  certainly  better  for  the  philanthropist.  Mr. 
Carnegie  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to  reap  all  the  reward 
which  awaits  the  cheerful  giver  —  but  lacking  any  other 


41 

donor,  we  certainly  must  recognize  the  Carnegie  libraries 
as  a  distinct  boon  to  mankind,  and  let  us  be  thankful  for 
them,  and  ask  no  questions. 

The  opening  of  a  Carnegie  library  building,  here  as  else- 
where, certainly  means  that  a  new  impulse  has  been 
given  in  the  community  to  the  interests  of  education,  that 
new  and  better  advantages  are  offered  unto  the  sons  of 
men  for  the  acquirement  of  that  wisdom  which  comes 
from  the  contemplation  of  the  thoughts  and  achievements 
of  those  who  have  gone  before.  It  means  that  in  that 
community,  be  it  scholastic  or  popular,  every  boy  and 
man,  girl  or  woman,  may  henceforth,  when  need  be,  dwell 
in  the  glorious  company  of  the  past  and  the  present; 
with  philosophers,  poets,  historians,  and  scientists;  with 
men  of  action  and  men  of  thought;  with  Shakspeare, 
Milton,  Shelley,  Byron,  Moore,  Tennyson,  Lowell,  Holmes, 
and  all  the  sweet  singers  of  yesterday  and  to-day;  with 
Newton,  Bacon,  Darwin,  Tyndall,  Huxley,  and  Spencer; 
with  novelists  like  Fielding,  Scott,  George  Eliot,  Dickens, 
Thackeray,  and  Robert  Louis  Stevenson;  with  keen  essay- 
ists and  wits,  like  Lamb  and  Hood ;  with  men  of  the  golden 
era  of  Samuel  Johnson  and  Goldsmith  and  the  inimitable 
Boswell;  with  historians  like  Gibbon,  Hume,  Macaulay, 
and  Green;  that,  in  biographies,  they  may  walk  with  the 
leaders  in  statecraft,  the  church,  invention,  and  the  mas- 
ters of  industry;  and  with  the  great  explorers,  like  Marco 
Polo,  Lewis  and  Clark,  Fremont,  Livingston,  and  Stanley 
—  a  glorious  company  this,  our  elder  brothers  on  varied 
fields  of  human  endeavor.  Wise  the  generation  which  can 
stand  on  the  plateaus  of  such  achievement,  and  press  for- 
ward to  still  higher  vantage  points. 

And  so,  sir,  on  behalf  of  the  parent  library  of  our 
state,  I  bring  to  you  its  cordial  greetings  and  congratula- 
tions on  this  interesting  occasion.  The  opening  of  this 
beautiful  structure  will  surely  be  followed  by  a  still  deep- 
er popular  appreciation  of  the  great  importance  of  your 


42 

library  in  the  educational  work  to  which  Beloit  College  is 
committed,  and,  let  us  hope,  an  increase  in  the  bearing  of 
gifts.  The  interest  in  your  own  ranks  will  likewise  be 
stimulated,  and  with  enlarged  interest  will  come  increased 
usage,  and  consequent  demand  for  wise  and  generous  de- 
velopment. Your  new  hall  of  records,  sir,  will  surely 
bring  rich  rewards  in  the  higher  life  of  Beloit,  her  gown 
and  her  town. 


THE  LIBRARY— A  UNIVERSITY  FOR  THE  PEOPLE 


BY  PROFESSOR  NATHANIEL  BUTLER. 


It  was  Thomas  Carlyle,  I  think,  who  said  that  a  great 
library  is  a  University  for  the  people.  The  term  is  well 
chosen  and  is  to  be  understood  to  describe  the  library,  not 
only  as  the  distributor  of  knowledege,  not  only  as  a  means 
of  education,  and  not  only  as  a  University  in  that  it  is 
an  aid  to  research  and  a  repository  of  its  results,  but  as 
standing  for  that  highest  and  most  human  product  of 
education  and  research — culture,  for  which,  at  last,  the 
University  itself  stands. 

And  precisely  what  do  we  mean  by  culture?  I  think 
we  may  define  it  by  noticing  what  especially  marks  the 
man  whom  we  call  cultured.  There  are  two  of  these 
marks:  first,  we  find  in  the  man  of  culture  an  intelligent 
taste  for  the  finer  things  of  life — for  art,  music,  literature 
—yes,  and  for  the  still  finer  things — courtesy,  charity,  re- 
ligion. It  is  these  things  that  sweeten  life.  Indeed,  these 
are  what  give  significance  to  life.  For  if  a  man 
draws  his  wages  or  his  salary  merely  that  he  may  live  to 
draw  more  wages  or  salary,  what  does  that  signify?  But 
all  this  earning  and  living  has  meaning  if  he,  in  the  inter- 
vals of  making  a  living,  knows  how  to  live.  You  cannot 
explain  why  a  man  should  live  at  all  save  in  terms  of  cul- 
ture. 

The  second  thing  that  marks  a  man  of  culture  is  intelli- 
gent and  sympathetic  interest  in  other  men's  pursuits. 
He  may  be,  must  in  these  days  be,  a  specialist.  But  he 
conceives  his  specialty  in  the  light  of  its  relations  to  what 


44 

other  men  are  doing.  Otherwise  he  does  not  conceive  it 
aright.  It  is  this  that  makes  the  father  and  mother 
able  not  only  to  clothe  and  feed  the  children,  but  to  create 
a  home  life  through  sympathy  with  children.  It  is  this 
that  saves  us  from  being  mere  artisans,  traders,  profes- 
sionals, and  scholars,  and  makes  us  citizens.  It  is  this  that 
makes  us  see  in  our  own  vocation  one  of  many  activities 
that  are  together  bringing  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  Cul- 
ture I  repeat  is  chiefly  a  taste  for  the  finer  things  of  life 
and  an  intelligent  interest  in  all  human  pursuits. 

Now  the  library  stands  for  this  higher  culture  because 
the  library  is  primarily  the  repository  and  distributor  of 
Literature.  And  what  is  Literature? 

In  the  broadest  interpretation  of  the  term,  Literature 
may  be  defined  as  any  written  record  of  thought  or  senti- 
ment. The  man  who  first  wrote  down  what  he  thought 
or  felt  is,  in  a  sense,  the  father  of  all  literature.  In  this 
view  treaties  between  primitive  tribes,  dry  and  meagre 
chronicles,  your  dictionary  and  your  telephone-directory  are 
Literature.  But  we  may  as  well  narrow  our  definition  at 
once  for  no  one  understands  the  term  in  so  broad  a  sense. 
Literature,  as  we  understand  and  use  the  term,  means  that 
body  of  writing  whose  main  purpose  is,  not  to  instruct  or 
inform,  but  to  convey  noble  pleasure  through  appeal  to 
emotion  or  imagination.  The  motives  of  Literature, 
then,  are  the  motives  not  of  science,  but  of  art.  Liter- 
ature then  is  one  of  the  Fine  Arts.  Now  one  of  the  main 
purposes  of  the  Arts  is  to  give  this  emotional  and  imagina- 
tive pleasure.  The  work  may  express  profound  truth.  It 
may  convey  valuable  information.  But  over  and  above 
the  truth  or  the  information,  the  thing  that  holds  and 
claims  us,  and  takes  us  again  and  again  to  the  same  work 
is  the  artist's  peculiar  way  of  seeing  his  subject,  and  of 
making  us  see  it.  He  has,  indeed,  mastered  his  theme, 
but  his  heart  has  vitalized  it,  his  fancy  has  played  about 
it,  we  see  it  through  his  eyes.  Hundreds  have  sung  about 


45 

the  daisy.  And  yet  except  what  Chaucer,  and  Burns, 
and  Wordsworth  have  sung  we  do  not  much  care  what  the 
rest  have  given.  Not  only  the  substance,  then,  but  the 
manner,  the  "way  of  putting  it"  holds  and  charms  us, 
and  so  constitutes  the  immortality  of  the  work.  It  must 
appeal  not  only  to  intellect,  but  first  of  all  to  emotion  and 
imagination. 

We  must  therefore  revise  our  definition  and  say  that 
Literature  consists  of  any  record  of  thought  or  sentiment 
such  that  it  delights  the  reader.  But  again  we  must  nar- 
row our  definition.  Surely  not  everything  that  gives 
pleasure  can  be  called  a  work  of  art.  The  book  that 
amuses  for  nine  days,  and  after  that  lies  unnoticed,  the 
book  that  everybody  reads  for  a  month,  and  that  nobody 
reads  after  that,  we  cannot  call  Literature.  Of  what- 
ever deserves  that  name  one  of  two  things  is  true — either 
that  it  continues  to  hold  and  charm  men,  or  that  it  is 
inseparably  associated  with  some  interest  that  continues 
to  hold  and  charm  men.  When  a  book,  a  poem,  an  essay,  con- 
tinues to  be  read,  not  only  by  the  writer 'sown  countrymen, 
not  only  by  men  of  his  own  time,  but  by  other  men  and  in 
other  times  than  those  in  the  midst  of  which  it  was  writ- 
ten, we  may  safely  call  that  a  work  of  Literature.  We 
must  therefore  again  revise  our  definition  and  say  that 
Literature  consists  of  any  written  record  of  thought  or 
feeling  such  that  it  survives  the  writer  and  his  times,  and 
delights  other  men  and  other  times  than  those  in  the  midst 
of  which  it  was  written.  Here  without  doubt  belong 
Longfellow,  Lowell,  Bryant,  Wordsworth,  Browning,  Ten- 
nyson, Milton,  Dante,  Shakspeare. 

But,  agreeing  that  the  writings  of  all  these  men  are 
Literature,  we  can  hardly  include  them  in  one  class.  Of 
Shakspeare  we  say  that  men  have  delighted  in  him  for 
more  than  three  hundred  years.  And  we  are  certain  that 
in  five  hundred  years  men  will  still  be  delighting  in  this 
great  interpreter  of  life,  unless  the  race  should  perish  or 


46 

undergo  a  change  that  is  inconceivable.  We  cannot  say 
the  same  of  Longfellow  or  Lowell.  We  can  not  be  quite 
so  sure  of  it  even  in  the  case  of  Wordsworth  or  Milton. 
We  shall  say,  then,  that  Literature  falls  into  two  classes: 
first,  those  writings  that  survive  the  author  and  his  times, 
but  do  not  at  last  attain  immortality;  second,  those  that 
become  a  part  of  the  imperishable  property  of  the  race. 
Homer,  Dante,  Shakspeare —  the  world  will  hold  fast  to 
the  works  of  these  men,  as  it  will  to  those  of  Beethoven 
and  Michael  Angel o.  Time  sifts  the  books  and  gives  us 
Literature.  Then  it  sifts  Literature  and  gives  us  the  clas- 
sics. Here  we  have  Literature  in  the  narrowest,  truest 
sense.  And  we  may  define  it  as  the  record  of  the  best  that 
has  been  thought  and  said  in  the  world. 

Having  now  defined  Literature  let  us  ask  what  is  its 
function. 

In  his  essay  on  Alexander  Pope,  DeQuincey  has  made 
for  us  a  very  useful  division  of  books  into  two  classes 
which  he  calls  respectively  "literature  of  knowledge"  and 
" literature  of  power."  The  function  of  the  first  is  to 
teach,  that  of  the  second  to  move,  arouse,  stimulate. 
What  DeQuincey  calls  ' '  literature  of  knowledge ' '  we  should 
hardly  call  Literature  at  all.  An  arithmetic  would  be  "lit- 
erature of  knowledge."  So  would  a  statistical  table  or 
a  scientific  report.  But  "literature  of  power,"  pure 
Literature,  would  be  represented  by  Shakspeare,  Goethe, 
Browning;  these  men  do  not  so  much  instruct  as  they 
move,  arouse,  stimulate  us.  What  gives  chief  value  to  a 
work  of  literature,  as  such,  is  not  the  information  it  af- 
fords, but  that  it  radiates  and  communicates  power  of 
some  kind.  Carlyle  regarded  as  the  chief  value  in  any 
book  its  power  to  generate  in  the  reader  "self  activity." 
"The  chief  use  of  reading  to  me,"  said  Montaigne,  "is 
that  it  arouses  my  reason,  it  appeals  to  my  judgment 
not  my  memory."  "The  tendency  of  education  through 
books,"  said  Mark  Pattison,  "is  to  sharpen  individuality, 


47 

to  cultivate  independence  of  mind,  to  make  a  man  cease 
to  be  the  contented  servant  of  the  things  that  perish." 
We  read,  not  that  we  may  take  on  the  individuality  of  the 
author.  We  read  Emerson,  not  that  we  may  be  like  Em- 
erson. We  read  Browning,  not  that  we  may  give  up  our 
personality  for  his.  On  the  contrary  we  read  that  we 
may  be  awakened,  aroused,  stimulated  and  made  to  live 
the  life  natural  to  us  in  our  best  condition.  The  ques- 
tion as  to  the  function  of  Literature  may  be  answered 
once  for  all  by  saying  that  Literature  is  of  no  value  save 
as  a  help  to  living,  giving  us  what  we  may  translate  into 
impulse,  motive,  character,  conduct  —  what  promotes  self 
activity. 

Literature  is  thus  seen  to  be  one  of  the  prime  education- 
al agencies.  That  through  this  library,  it  will  become  so 
in  a  larger  degree  than  heretofore,  there  can  be  no  doubt. 
In  this  college  and  in  this  community  are  preserved,  as 
in  very  few  Western  communities,  the  traditions  that 
magnify  the  humanities,  the  traditions  that  emphasize  cul- 
ture not  as  opposed  to  technical  or  special  training  but  as 
the  pre-requisite  to  these,  the  traditions  that  assert  that 
education  that  has  no  reference  to  vocation  is  the  indis- 
pensable foundation  of  education  for  a  vocation.  From 
the  standpoint  even  of  modern  utilitarianism,  the  cost  of 
this  new  library  has  been  most  wisely  invested.  The  com- 
mon judgment  of  men  approves  these  words  with  which 
Mr.  Chauncey  Depew  closed  an  address:  "He  who  gives 
money  to  the  hospita  I  gives  well.  He  who  gives  to  the  asy- 
lum gives  well.  But  he  who  gives  to  the  school  gives  best. 
For,"  said  he,  falling  into  the  familiar  language  of  the 
railway,  "the  money  that  goes  to  the  hospital  goes  for  re- 
pairs ;  but  the  line  can  never  be  made  as  good  as  new,  and 
the  earnings  are  never  sufficient  to  keep  the  concern  going. 
The  money  that  goes  to  the  asylum,  where  are  the  incur- 
able in  mind  and  body — that  is  where  humanity  is  in  the 
hands  of  a  receiver,  and  the  money  goes  to  keep  the  receiver 


in  funds,  to  keep  a  bankrupt  concern  going.  It  is  all  very 
well,  all  very  well.  But  the  money  that  goes  to  the 
school  goes  for  construction —  a  new  line,  new  cars,  new 
locomotives.  The  line  runs  through  regions  where  God's 
acres  have  never  felt  the  beneficent  influence  of  the  plow. 
It  runs  through  the  region  where  the  mill  may  be  built, 
where  the  home  may  be  established,  where  towns  and  cities 
may  spring  up,  and  it  carries  out  and  distributes,  right 
and  left,  the  missionaries  of  God,  for  the  enlightenment 
of  mankind  and  the  salvation  of  the  Kepublic. ' ' 


V     OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


